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20th Birthday Lecture - Michael Ignatieff

In this 20th birthday lecture, Michael Ignatieff discussed the troubles of progressive politics and the apparently growing gap between political elites and ordinary voters.

Multi-dimensional Poverty

Claudia Wood, Deputy Director at Demos, introduces the multi-dimensional poverty project, which aims to redefine poverty for the 21st century.

#Intelligence at the Frontline Club

Demos hosted a debate at the Frontline Club about the recent report #Intelligence. The debate was chaired by the BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones and featured report author Jamie Bartlett, the Rt Hon David Davis MP, Isabella Sankey of Liberty and Professor Anthony Glees.

A Place for Pride

We launched A Place for Pride with a panel discussion at One Birdcage Walk featuring David Goodhart, Lord Glasman, David Green and Max Wind-Cowie, author of the report.

The Future of Open Data

We were joined by Tim Kelsey, the Government's Adviser on Transparency and Open Data, to discuss how big data can be better shared, utilised and regulated to tackle social challenges, create more citizen-centric public services and foster more accountable institutions.

Capitalism and Freedom

On Wednesday 17th August, Demos and the Open Society Institute hosted a debate on the effects that free markets have on open societies. We were delighted to be joined by Lord Glasman and John Kay of the FT.

The Entrepreneurial State

Mariana Mazzucato, Professor in the Economics of Innovation at the Open University, explains the animating idea behind her Demos pamphlet The Entrepreneurial State, in conversation with Kitty Ussher.

The Tolerance Paradox

On Thursday 23 June, Demos and the Open Society Institute hosted a debate on solidarity and diversity, addressing whether diversity strengthens or threatens open societies.

Through a Web Darkly

Demos hosted a panel discussion featuring Evgeny Morozov on the impact of the internet on democratic culture, institutes and engagement.

David Brooks in conversation with Demos

Author and journalist David Brooks discussed the role of character in public policy and economic theory with The Character Inquiry co-editor Matt Grist on 18 May, chaired by journalist Phil Collins, chair of trustees at Demos.

Launch of The Character Inquiry

On 10 May, Demos launched The Character Inquiry with a debate chaired by Trevor Phillips at the Royal United Services Institute, featuring Inquiry members Julian Baggini, Camila Batmanghelidjh and Yvonne Roberts.

Back to the Future

To accompany the pamphlet Back to the Future, Demos created a short film about the Young People's Convention on the Deficit, interviewing young people about their opinions on the spending cuts.

Launch of The Home Front

On 17 January, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg gave a speech at Demos to launch The Home Front, our latest report on parenting.

Ask Ed Balls

On 26 August 2010, the Open Left project at Demos hosted an in-conversation with Ed Balls MP, Labour leadership candidate, and Steve Richards, Chief Political Commentator for the Independent.

Nick Clegg at Demos

On the 16th July 2010, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg delivered a speech at Demos on 'Liberalism in Government'. He set out the case for Liberalism in all areas of policy, concluding by claiming that by 2015 Britain will be a more liberal nation.

Balsall Heath: being the Big Society

Civic Streets, a report by the Progressive Conservatism Project at Demos, looked at how two communities in Birmingham successfully turned their neighbourhoods around from the ground up. This short film presents a view from one of the estates, Balsall Heath.

The launch of An Anatomy of Youth

Charlie Tims, co -author of An Anatomy of Youth, gives a tour of his exhibition at The Future Gallery in SoHo, along with comments and reactions from bloggers and guests that attended. It was the wall-to-wall exhibition that made the event so popular, resulting in queues around the building to get in!

How Labour Wins Again

Liam Byrne MP spoke at Demos about the ways in which Labour can recover from the election and gain power again.

Radical Satire

In response to our report The Edge of Violence, Jamie Bartlett has made a video that questions why some radicals become violent and focuses on the ways to combat terrorism.

The New Frontier: Votes at 16

This Demos video, made to accompany a new report called The New Frontier, argues that the voting age in the UK should be lowered to sixteen. Read Richard Reeves' blog for more information.

Caroline Lucas at Demos

Caroline Lucas, Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales gives a speech on progressive politics at Demos. She argues that today's economic, political and environmental crises represent a key opportunity to embrace green economics.

David Willetts at Demos: Progressive Conservatism

In this speech, David Willetts, the Shadow Secretary of State for Universities and Skills, explains how Conservatism is being rejuvenated for the 21st century. He sets out what progress means for progressive conservatism and what the implications are for tackling poverty and inequality.

It's Who You Know: The Power of Social Networks (Part 2)

Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, responds to a speech given at Demos by Nicholas Christakis, author of 'Connected: The surprising power of our social networks and how they shape our lives'.

It's Who You Know: The Power of Social Networks (Part 1)

Dr. Nicholas Christakis, author of 'Connected: The surprising power of our social networks and how they shape our lives' introduces his work in a speech given at Demos on 26th February 2010.

Margaret Hodge at Demos: the Future of Cultural Policy

A speech by Margaret Hodge MP, Minister of State for Culture and Tourism, to mark the launch of a new, year-long Policy Fellowship, jointly run by Demos and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

David Miliband on powerful people

David Miliband MP, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs looks at the challenges facing the UK over the next decade.

The Perils of Business as Usual

In the inaugaral lecture of the Demos Politics 2010 series, Vince Cable delivers a speech in which he calls for radical reform of the banking system in the aftermath of the credit crunch. Entitled 'The Perils of Business as Usual', the speech outlines the four core pillars of the Lib Dem economic manifesto.

'A sit up and listen moment'

How do we build a responsible society? What is the role of parenting and early years education in shaping character? David Cameron considers these questions in his speech to Demos at the launch of the Character Inquiry - a year-long investigation into the role of character in personal and public life.

The Power Gap

What makes a person powerful? How is power distributed, and who are the least and most powerful in the nation? Demos has investigated which people around the country have real power over their lives. Huge thanks to Airside for the production.

National Civic Service

We know what politicians and adults think about civic service - but what do young people themselves think? Watch this video from our young people's convention on national civic service.

Open Left

James Purnell introduces the Open Left project at Demos. This video features footage from the Open Left launch with Lewis Iwu, Will Hutton, Jess Search and Jon Cruddas. This video was edited by Oliver Mezger.

Power

What does power look like now, and who holds it? To make sure people have power to shape their own lives, we need to understand how power works.

The Video Republic

A new theatre of public information has emerged, spread across the internet, television, and campaigns. This emerging Video Republic is an alternative realm of creation and exchange. Who inhabits, shapes and regulates the Video Republic and what is its future?

It's A Material World

What has graffiti got to do with conservation? This video looks at the value of choices we make about conserving and caring for the material world.

FYI: Dan's Story

This is a story highlighting why personal information has become so valuable and important to organisations, and why it matters to us, as citizens, how it is used.

Seen and Heard

Whether it is through fear for them, or fear of them, young people have been excluded from public spaces. This has been to the detriment of their own well-being, and for better places for us all. We need to write children and young people back into our public realm.

Everyday Democracy

A video from Tom Bentley's pamphlet Everyday Democracy, about the problems with formal democracy and political parties. Instead of just looking for voting and parliamentary reform, it talks of the need to find new ways to make collective decisions and why this should add up to an 'everyday democracy'.

The Future of the English Language

Taking its lead from the pamphlet As You Like It, this video looks at the future of English. It argues that the emergence of Global English has challenged, rather than increased, the benefits people in the UK get from being native speakers.

The Video Republic - Helsinki

A video from one of our research trips for the Video Republic project. We visited a video workshop running at the Kiasma Museum in Helsinki, spending a week talking with the film-makers and facilitators.

We have a range of audio outputs (Demos was the first think tank to podcast!). Event audio features speeches, panel discussions and Q&A from Demos' events. We also have two series of podcasts - 'Demos Podcasts' (subscribe) and 'Policy Beats' (subscribe). Learn more about our podcasts here.

Centre for London Debate with Ben Rogers (Director of the Centre), Sir Robin Wales (Mayor of Newham), David Lammy (MP for Tottenham) and Peter Kellner (Founder of YouGov). Chaired by Guardian journalist and broadcaster Jonathan Freedland.

Kim Catcheside chairs the event, which features speeches by Tim Loughton MP, Minister for Children and Families, Councillor Shireen Ritchie, Chair of the LGA's Children and Young People Board and Martin Narey, Chief Executive of Barnardo's.

Held at The Smeaton Room, the Resilient Places launch hosted a panel debate and reception marking the launch of a new Demos report on the role of heritage and infrastructure in creating local and community resilience.

The speakers: David Aaronovitch, columnist for The Times and author of Paddling to Jerusalem: An aquatic tour of our small country, Fiona Reynolds, Director-General of the National Trust, Katherine Clarke, Artist Partner at muf architecture/art, Samuel Jones and Melissa Mean, co-authors of Resilient Places and Richard Reeves, Director of Demos all spoke at the event, sharing their thoughts on the project.

Listen to the launch of a new Demos power map with Dan Leighton, the author of the report, James Purnell MP and David Finkelstein of The Times. The map represents a new way of looking at power in contemporary societies.

Building Character, by Richard Reeves and Jen Lexmond, asks hard questions about the effect of parenting style, home environment, and socio-economic background on children's early development. At the launch, Maria Miller MP, Stephen Scott and authors Jen Lexmond and Richard Reeves debated these key issues, in a discussion chaired by The Guardian's Jenni Russell.

Tessa Jowell MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office, the Olympics, London and Paymaster General; David Lammy MP, Minister for Higher Education and Intellectual Property at BIS; James Purnell MP for Stalybride and Hyde; Rt Hon Roy Hattersley and Steve Richards, Chief Political Commentator, The Independent, debate key aspects of what it means to be on the British left today in an event chaired by Channel 4 News' Krishnan Guru-Murthy.

'Power to the people’ has become the political slogan of the summer, yet competing visions and sentiments lie behind it. What has to be done for this to be more than an empty phrase? This Demos in-conversation with Vince Cable MP and Richard Reeves of Demos asked what it means to redistribute power between citizen and the state; where the balance of power should lie; and if the Liberal Democrats are prepared to do the most to truly give power to the people.

In June Demos launched 'Expressive Lives', a collection of essays about why expression is important for our citizenship and democracy. Just after the launch, Peter Bradwell and Samuel Jones caught up with Bill Ivey, whose book Arts Inc. inspired the work. They asked him why he thinks encouraging and supporting expression is so important and what arts institutions and governments need to do differently.

Demos' Samuel Jones talks to Hasan Bakhshi, Director of Creative Industries at Nesta, about how economics can provide the tools to 'measure' and validate the intrinsic value of art. Hasan is co-author of 'Measuring intrinsic Value', and here argues that the reluctance to use rigorous economic methods has hindered rather than helped the case for the arts.

In the second event in Demos' Security lecture series Charlie Edwards, Head of Security, introduced a lecture by Professor Faisal Devji, on his new book The Terrorist in Search of Humanity: Militant Islam and Global Politics. He argues that new forms of militancy are informed by the same desire for agency and equality that animates other humanitarian interventions, such as environmentalism and pacifism. Acts of terror are fuelled by the militant's desire to become a historical actor on the global stage. And though they have yet to build concrete political institutions, militant movements have formed a kind of global society.

Charlie Edwards, Head of the Security Programme at Demos, introduces a lecture and presentation by Dr David Kilcullen on his new book, The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One. The lecture is the first in Demos' series of Security lectures. Dr Kilcullen argues that war in the post-9/11 world is very different to what we might have been expected. Counterinsurgency and protracted guerrilla warfare, not shock and awe, are the order of the day.

On 2nd June Demos hosted a roundtable, with 'V', looking at new MORI research into young people's attitudes to volunteering. Is it a good idea to compel young people to perform a kind of national civic service? Or should volunteering be something young people choose to do? Peter Bradwell speaks with Terry Ryall, Chief Executive of V, Noreesh Farooq and Marie Keplay from V20, Paul Oginsky, Youth Policy Advisor to David Cameron, and Alex Mitchell from the Institute of Directors.

A podcast about The Mobile Conference, a day-long event held by Camberwell School of Art and South London Gallery. It follows Demos' work with Peckham Space looking at the relationship between art and social change. After some clips from the closing participative lecture, Samuel Jones talks to Tate Britain's Paul Goodwin about the ideas raised in the project.

The first of our new Policy Beats series. With faith in politicians seemingly at a low ebb, we looked to the future and three leaders from the 'young' wings of the main parties - Michael Rock from Conservative Future, Elaine Bagshaw from Liberal Youth and Richard Angel from Young Labour. Why did they put their faith in their respective parties?

Can social media help make people and communities more resilient? Head of Demos' Security programme Charlie Edwards talks to Dominic Campbell of FutureGov; David Steven of Global Dashboard; and Justin Kerr-Stevens, strategic communications expert.

This week Demos launches a new project called 'Progressive Conservatism'. Here, Demos Director Richard Reeves discusses what he means by progressive. He touches on how progressive the political parties are, whether the economic downturn threatens progressive goals, and whether there are lessons to learn from President Obama's upbeat and inspiring political story.

What is the role of volunteers and volunteering in helping to build community resilience? Charlie Edwards talks to Jacqui Campbell, of Dacorum Borough Council; Mary Dhonau of the National Flood Forum; Martin Fenlon of the Emergency Planning College; Kathy Settle, Cabinet Office and Moya Wood-Heath, Emergency Planning and Civil Protection Adviser, Red Cross.

Last Monday, 20th October, we hosted a fantastic panel discussion about the upcoming US elections. Demos director Richard Reeves chaired, and we welcomed Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland; Rick Perlstein, author of 'Nixonland'; Jim Sciutto, Senior Foreign Correspondant for ABC News; and James Crabtree, Senior Editor, Prospect. In this podcast you can hear Jonathan Freedland's talk, and from the events page you can download audio from the other talks.

Liam Byrne, Minister for Borders and Immigration, talks to Demos' Peter Harrington about his new pamphlet A More United Kingdom. In it, he argues that shared standards are the secret to preserving harmony in a more diverse society.

Sam Jones talking at a Peckham Space event on the relationship between art and social change. The podcast features clips from talks by Harold Offeh, Saul Albert of the People Speak, and excerpts from the audience discussion.

On Wednesday, Shadow Chancellor George Osborne delivered a speech at Demos entitled 'On Fairness'. In this Demos podcast you can listen to our new Director Richard Reeves' introduction to the event, and the Shadow Chancellor's speech.

We had the pleasure of hosting Clay Shirky in the Demos event space yesterday lunchtime. He was in conversation with Demos Associate and School of Everything CEO Paul Miller, talking around the ideas thrown up by his book Here Comes Everybody.

Duncan O'Leary catches up with Jack and Faizal, to talk about their new pamphlet The Talking Cure. Jack and Faizal explain why the future of the NHS will not just be secured by structural or organisational reforms from the top. We need to also think about the developing relationship between doctor and patient. As the pamphlet argues, 'in the noise of healthcare reform, the small conversations that matter most have been drowned out.'

Over tea in the Demos kitchen, Rachel Briggs caught up with David Goodhart, editor of Prospect magazine, and Professor Paul Schnabel, General Director of the Social and Cultural Planning Office of the Netherlands, after the third and final seminar in a series exploring integration and participation in the Netherlands and the UK. Here, Rachel, David and Paul discuss the broad state of political participation and its relationship to cohesion and integration.

The Everyday Democracy Index sets out the first attempt to measure how powerful citizens from a range of countries are in everyday spheres of life - such as neighbourhoods, workplaces, and even the family. Here, Duncan O'Leary talked to authors Kirsten Bound and Paul Skidmore about what the Index tries to do; what it measures; and where the research is heading next.

In this episode of the Be A Podcast series, Peter Bradwell spoke to Jonathan Winter and Tony DiRomualdo of Career Innovation, authors of The Manifesto for the New Agile Workplace. The Manifesto set out to identify people's attitudes towards non-traditional ways of working such as part-time, contract working (self-employed), term-time working and flexible hours.

Just before the launch of the pamphlet Making it Personal at a day-long conference, Peter Bradwell spoke to two of the authors, Niamh Gallagher and Jamie Bartlett. The pamphlet explores the next stage of a personalising approach to public services: people given an individual budget to shape the support they need. Niamh and Jamie discuss why these self-directed services are such an important transformation of how traditional public services work, and what impact they really have.

Glasgow 2020 was a project to imagine the future of Glasgow through storytelling, wish-making and a series of discussions with people across Glasgow. It was an experiment in ways to improve the relationship between the people that live in a city, and the people that manage it. The book The Dreaming City launched last summer. Here's a podcast we recorded about it a couple of weeks ago.

Last week Jamie Bartlett gave a lecture about community based approaches to counter terrorism in Canada - the terror threat may come from global networks, but it’s in local communities that young Muslims become radicalised. Jamie's lecture makes up this week's podcast (it's 35 minutes long).

There is a new pamphlet about the future of the British Armed Forces. "Out of Step - The case for change in the British Armed forces" argues that the armed forces are constrained from responding to the 21st century challenges by tradition and hierarchy. Listen to a discussion of the report here.

Last Thursday, we hosted a conversation among various people interested in the changes to the ways that patients talk to doctors and to each other. Here you can hear the talks from Harry Cayton and Angela Coulter, who have both been at the heart of debates about patient engagement in health.

In this podcast, Jack Stilgoe talks with Charlie Tims, co-author of the pamphlet "So, what do you do?". Charlie talks about why the Creative Industries matter, and the crucial role of public policy in supporting the creative economy.

Celia Hannon, Joost Beunderman and Peter Bradwell, authors of Seen and Heard, argue that children have been written out of public space - they can stay inside, go to the park or they can forget it. But rather than containing kids in playgrounds and skate parks, all public spaces should be made play-friendly.

John Holden, Samuel Jones and Kirsten Bound discuss their pamphlet 'Cultural Diplomacy', published earlier this year. The report looks at the emerging role of culture in international relations, and how our perceptions of the world around us are shaped by engaging with culture.

Samuel Jones and Peter Bradwell talk about their pamphlet "As you like it". Sitting outside St. Paul's Cathedral a few weeks ago, they talk about how globalisation is changing English and has removed the natural competitive advantage it used to assure for Britons. They also try and explain why the pamphlet aroused such animosity in some quarters.

After the recording of the radio 4 show National Treasures last Wednesday, John Holden and Robert Hewison met in a pub to a record a podcast with Charlie Tims. They discussed why an understanding of cultural value can address the "crisis of legitimacy" faced by cultural institutions in the UK.

Molly Webb, one of the co-authors of The Disrupters, talks about why, if we are going to make the transition to a low-carbon society, we need to develop entirely different ways of building, travelling, shopping and even eating. It is the Disruptors - people innovating in this way - who are the people to help us do it.

The Bristol Urban Beach was an attempt by Melissa Mean, head of the Self-Build Cities programme to create a new kind of public space in Bristol. Here, on the beach itself, Melissa explains how it happened and why on earth, of all things, a think tank should be involved in building a beach...

Sophia Parker discusses the pamphlet "The Journey to the Interface". She explains how users of public services such as Education and Health can inform how those services are designed and used - an approach that is "less about competition and contestability, and more about closing the gap between what people want and need, and what service organisations do".

Simon and Sophia Parker, the editors of Demos collection Unlocking Innovation, discuss why innovation in public services doesn’t come from spanking new computers, policy gurus or, for that matter, think tank whizz kids but from public service designers, involving citizens in the creation and improvement of their services.

Simon Parker, Head of Public Services at Demos, discussing the Demos collection Collaborative State. Simon argues that if we want to sustain public service improvements into the next decade, then we need a new generation of reform that builds on experiments with collaboration between both different parts of the public sector, and between institutions and the people they serve.

What might a care ethic in policy look like? Compassionate conservatism? Big brands? Would you entrust your granny to EasyCare the way you entrust your luggage to EasyJet? Listen to Charlie Leadbeater's talk at the Demos Care Conference on March 21st on why we need a care ethic at the heart of 21st century policy, and what that might look like.

DK is the founder of Mediasnackers - a blog looking at the changing ways young people are interacting with new digital technologies. Here, he explains who mediasnakers are and how the generational divide is not between mediasnackers and their parents but between mediasnakers and institutions.

Dr Bryony Randall is a lecturer at The University of Glamorgan, author of “Modernism, Daily Time and Everyday Life” (Cambridge University Press), a work of literary criticism looking at the conceptions of “everyday life” in modernist writing. Here she discusses the emergence of competing understandings of everyday life at the start the Century.

Tim Drake is an entrepreneur, speaker and writer. In this podcast he argues that the falling price of material goods and an increasing awareness of problems around us, are leading more people to want to make a difference to the people around them.

A podcast from the Look Into My Ideas event; a record of what happened, why people were there and what some of their ideas were. After an introduction from Charlie Tims, we spoke to Baroness Lola Young and some of the other participants who had found useful or fruitful connections that evening.

Mark Irving is a journalist and broadcaster. Based on research at some of Britain's top art galleries, including Tate Britain and the Serpentine, here Mark looks at approaches for harnessing the collective intelligence of employees.

Anamaria Wills is the Chief Executive of the Creative Industries Development Agency (CIDA). In this podcast she talks about what distinguishes Creative Entrepreneurs from normal entrepreneurs and why institutions aren’t configured to support them.

Richard Sandell, Deputy Head of Department of Museum Studies at the University of Leicester, talks about the role of museums in combating prejudice. The Be a Podcast series invited people to record a Demos podcast about their ideas, research or projects.

Professor Kathy Sykes, Collier Professor of Public Engagement in Science and Engineering at Bristol University in conversation with Jack Stilgoe. Kathy and Jack talk about the legitimacy of scientists to act in the public interest, and the role of the public in scientists professional life.